Time to balance burden for disadvantaged students

By Mary Bolling

University deadlines, study load and access to extensions have gone under the microscope with new CQUniversity research revealing how 'complex demands' on students’ time can drive disadvantage.

The study examined how assessment policies and practices around time are creating barriers for students from equity groups including First Nations People, migrants and refugees, people with disabilities and those from low socioeconomic backgrounds and regional and remote areas.

Lead author of the research Associate Professor Joanne Dargusch, who is also the Director of CQUniversity’s Centre for Research in Equity and Advancement of Teaching and Education (CREATE), said current processes for requesting extensions could actually worsen time discrepancies.

“Our analysis of the assessment policies of 42 Australian universities found complex systems and high-literacy documents meant students from equity backgrounds faced significant barriers to access the extra time they need,” she said.

“Often they’re hitting these walls when already overwhelmed – which highlights the importance of embedding flexibility in assessment design to avoid the need for extra time.” 

Conducted in conjunction with researchers from Queensland University of Technology (QUT), the paper, titled Time for a rethink: Assessment policy to enable equity, also analysed 92 interviews with equity-background students, to understand the time-related factors that impacted their assessment completion and success.

“The report reveals the complex circumstances – like work, caring responsibilities and trauma – that these students navigate,” Assoc Prof Dargusch said.

“Assumptions about 'linear time', or the attitude ‘everyone has the same 24 hours in a day’, ignore the fact that if you’re managing a disability or working to support a family, the time left for study is often severely constrained.

“It's not enough to say, 'if students need more time they can apply for an extension'.” 

Assoc Prof Dargusch said the findings highlighted how flexibility, embedded in both assessment policies and institutional practices, would improve equity and inclusion.

“Being supported to understand those policies when they set out, would support students from equity backgrounds to engage meaningfully with their studies and succeed in higher education,” she said.

The Federal Government’s Australian Universities Accord has set a target of 80 per cent of Australians being tertiary qualified by 2050, up from about 60 per cent in 2024.

Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success Director of the Research and Policy Professor Ian Li said a rethink on assessment design was needed.

“Assessments are an essential part of the higher education journey for students. However, students and their needs have changed, and the sector should rethink how academic assessment should be designed to best support students to achieve success.”

The project was able to identify a range of high-equity practices around assessment and time either being implemented or planned for implementation by various universities. These included strategies such as auto-extensions, which enable students to get additional time without having to bear the cost or time to get a medical or other certificate. 

Assoc Prof Dargusch said the study challenged universities nationally to drive innovative, consistent and inclusive policy.

“The higher education community must collaborate across institutions to determine what circumstances merit extra time, establish consistent allocation practices, and identify and share high-equity practices in relation to time and assessment,” she said.

The research team also included CQU academics Dr Lois Harris, Professor Margaret Kettle, Dr Julie Arnold and Natasha Rogers, with Professor Jill Willis, Dr Jeanine Gallagher and Dr Do Na Chi from QUT.

This research was supported by the Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success (ACSES) at Curtin University.

CQU’s Centre for Research in Equity and Advancement of Teaching and Education is driving innovative initiatives for equitable education, training and employment pathways for regional Australians. 

CREATE combines creative thinking and research-informed practice to improve wellbeing, resilience and cohesion, create safe and inclusive learning environments, and improve problem-solving for meaningful learning and teaching.

Learn more at CQUniversity’s CREATE website.